Wirral Learning Site

What we are doing

· Nurture has been commissioned by the Directorate of Public Health of Wirral Council to work alongside Wirral folks to build a local appetite for ABCD for over 2 years.

· Nurture has been commissioned by the Directorate of Public Health of Wirral Council to work alongside local residents from the Wirral to build a local appetite for ABCD over a 2-year period.

· It all started after a series of workshops and keynote addresses by Nurture Development Managing Director, Cormac Russell that generated and initial interest.

· Nurture Development Associate, Chris Shaw, has been ABCD guide in Wirral for over 2 years and is a Wirral Resident.

· During 2015-2016 we will continue to:

· Provide mentoring and refine ABCD Learning Sites based upon the learning of the previous 2 years.

· Establish local Learning Sites & recruit local Community Connectors

· Train & support Community Connectors

· We (Nurture Development) continue to support Community Builders and Connectors across Wirral to work deeply with hyper-local community connectors to build citizen led action and community capacity. We do this through monthly Community Builder workshops and using Action Learning Sets and other methodologies.

· Some of the partners we are working with include Community Builders and Community Organisers from local communities; Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI); Spare5Oxton Gateway projectHolyspirit CommunityNorth Birkenhead Development Trust; Poulton; Wired; TGL and others.

· We continue to support the development of the already successful Wirral Wide ABCD Sponsorship and Network meeting that gathers every month to build relationships, trust and awareness raising around ABCD.

· We continue to engage a multitude of individuals who are striving to build community and better connect local residents together in purposeful and meaningful social activity and civic endeavour.

Impact

· 130 Local residents trained on ABCD.

· 20 Community Connectors trained and being mentored.

· 5 Neighbourhoods actively engaged in community building.

Community Organisers & Community Builders gathering.

Community Organisers & Community Builders gathering.

Places of Welcome

· We are working with faith and community groups to develop Places of Welcome. This is a network of community facilities that are available on a daily basis for local residents who have found themselves on the margins of community. This initiative welcomes folks with refreshments chat and some signposting to next steps into fuller community participation.

· James Henderson, based in Walsall and from the Diocese of Lichfield, has provided training in joining the (now nationally) growing Places of Welcome network.

· The work of Lynn Hindle, Clive McLarren and Wendy Robertson and many others has led to a really strong and growing trusting friendships between faith and Community folks.

The picture on the right shows Places of Welcome Training at Christchurch church hall Moreton.  James Henderson tells how Places of Welcome can define a boroughs values around affording a warm welcome to folks caught outside or on the edge of community.

James travelled from Walsall to chat with Wirral folks from different Faith and community folks and settings about how joining together into a Places of Welcome network can enable that a borough can ensure that on any given day of the week that there’s a place open to welcome vulnerable folks, while celebrating sociability common humanity rather than seeking eligibility/suitability criteria for Special Needs.  It was heartwarming to experience the trust and friendship being established by this ABCD subgroup of our wider ABCD network of friendships on Wirral.

We would like to give a big thanks to James for coming and giving his time free of charge, and to Lynn, Eilleen and John from Christchurch for their hospitality and especially to Lynn Hindle for her home baking too! 

Phil Dickson, Wirral resident, shares what Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) means to him.

Philip is the Secretary Churches Together in Wirral and the Chair of Metropolitan Borough of Wirral & Faith sector Community Faith Forum. He works towards driving Faith folks on Wirral into building community capacity through using ABCD.

You can read more about his work here.

David Loney (left) & Paul Smithurst (right), Wirral residents, share what Asset-Based Community Development means to them.

In 2012 The Quays Project asked Dave Loney to get a team together for the Alcohol Awareness Week tournament. The contact with keen players experiencing mental and addiction recovery was the start of a very supportive network.

Paul Smithurst supports Community Energy Wirral through is passio for horticulture and the environment. He is a former psychiatric Nurse helping to transform local communities and is being mentored by Chris.

Which of our team members is in Wirral: Chris Shaw, Nurture Development Associate.

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